By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina jumped six spots to No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after Friday’s 77–52 victory over UC Riverside.
It’s the highest rank for UNC since it was No. 1 in the third poll last season. Carolina’s jump was the second-largest this week behind Colorado (3–0), which went up seven spots to No. 18 following a 106–79 win over Milwaukee.
The Tar Heels (3–0) head to the Bahamas this week, where they will face Northern Iowa (1–2, KenPom rank of 119) at noon Wednesday in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. On Thanksgiving Day, UNC will face Villanova (3–1, 26) or Texas Tech (3–0, 46). For Saturday’s final game, the Heels will face Michigan (3–1, 37), Memphis (3–0, 30), Arkansas (3–1, 29) or Stanford (3–1, 65).
The Razorbacks were one of seven teams ranked in last week’s poll to lose, with five of those ranked ahead of the Tar Heels last week. Arkansas fell six spots to No. 20 after losing at home to UNC-Greensboro 78–72.
Villanova (3–1), previously No. 21, fell out of the poll after a 76–72 loss to Penn.
Others ahead of Carolina in last week’s poll to lose were Florida Atlantic (2–1; fell nine spots to No. 19 after a 61–52 loss to Bryant), Southern Cal (3–1; fell seven spots to No. 23 after a 70–60 setback against UC Irvine), Kentucky (3–1; moved up one spot to No. 16 after an 89–84 loss to No. 1 Kansas) and Michigan State (3–2; dropped three spots to No. 21 after a 74–65 loss to Duke). Also losing was Illinois, previously No. 23, which fell out of the poll after a 71–64 loss to No. 4 Marquette.
The Blue Devils (3–1) stayed at No. 9 after also beating Bucknell 90–60. Miami (5–0) moved up two spots to No. 10 after wins over FIU (86–80), Georgia (70–68) and Kansas State (91–83); and Virginia (4–0) debuted in the poll at No. 24 after wins over N.C. A&T (80–51) and Texas Southern (62–33).
The four ranked teams for the ACC is tied with the Big 12 for second behind the SEC’s six teams.
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 9 was Luke DeCock of The News & Observer, with Dave Reardon of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser voting the Heels No. 10, with Justin Jackson of the Morgantown Dominion Post voting them No. 11. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports ranked Carolina the lowest at No. 22.
JB Ricks of Spectrum News voted UNC No. 16 and Kate Rogerson of WTVD voted the Heels No. 17.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas (52) | 3-0 | 1508 | 1 |
| 2 | Purdue (5) | 3-0 | 1440 | 2 |
| 3 | Arizona (3) | 5-0 | 1364 | 3 |
| 4 | Marquette | 3-0 | 1316 | 4 |
| 5 | UConn (1) | 4-0 | 1299 | 5 |
| 6 | Houston | 6-0 | 1191 | 6 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 3-0 | 1136 | 7 |
| 8 | Creighton | 4-0 | 1119 | 8 |
| 9 | Duke | 3-1 | 1084 | 9 |
| 10 | Miamia (FL) | 5-0 | 920 | 12 |
| 11 | Gonzaga | 2-0 | 902 | 11 |
| 12 | Texas A&M | 4-0 | 867 | 13 |
| 13 | Baylor | 4-0 | 774 | 15 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 3-0 | 655 | 20 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 4-0 | 650 | 19 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 3-1 | 617 | 17 |
| 17 | Alabama | 4-0 | 516 | 22 |
| 18 | Colorado | 3-0 | 241 | 25 |
| 19 | Florida Atlantic | 2-1 | 229 | 10 |
| 20 | Arkansas | 3-1 | 224 | 14 |
| 21 | Michigan State | 3-2 | 222 | 18 |
| 22 | James Madison | 4-0 | 217 | 24 |
| 23 | Southern California | 3-1 | 165 | 16 |
| 24 | Virgina | 4-0 | 164 | NR |
| 25 | Mississippi State | 5-0 | 163 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Memphis 149, BYU 138, Illinois 138, San Diego St. 77, UCLA 75, TCU 69, Iowa St. 67, Villanova 44, Auburn 28, Clemson 12, Oklahoma 10, Princeton 10, Michigan 10, Liberty 7, South Carolina 3, Chattanooga 2, Nevada 1, Drake 1, Colorado St. 1.
UNC season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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